The disclosed invention is to a product loading apparatus for orientating, stacking, and packaging discrete food products. More specifically, the invention is to a product loading machine and method of use in which disc-like objects, such as frozen hamburger patties, are oriented, arranged into stacks, and placed into boxes or similar sorts of packages. The contents of copending patent application Ser. No. 09/026,772 filed on Feb. 20, 1998 are incorporated herein by reference.
Frozen hamburgers, chicken patties, and other disc-like food products typically are prepared by a manufacturer on one piece of equipment, and then manually loaded into boxes or similar packaging with a separate packaging machine. Manufacturers of hamburger patties will form patties with a production machine. After being formed, they are fed into a freezer. After leaving the freezer, they are screened by a metal detector which ejects contaminated patties. The patties are then typically conveyed to a stacking machine. The frozen patties are manually placed into boxes. The number of patties in the boxes will vary, based upon size of the patties and the efficiency of the stacker.
Prior stacking machines typically form a large number of lanes of food product, generally more lanes than the number of stacks that will fit in the box. It is difficult to form stacks for each lane, and then form a pattern of stacks which will fit in each case.
Changing the dimensions of the box or carton negatively effects the length to width ratios of the box, resulting in receptacles which are awkward and imbalanced. Moreover, the patties may be of varying size, so the stacking machines have a difficult time accommodating product of varying sizes. Thus, there is a need in the art for a lane combining conveyor system which reduces the number of lanes of food product to the number of stacks required to fit lengthwise in a case.
Coil-type stackers are sometimes placed at a drop off from the conveyor system so that product will be dropped and stacked between the turns of the coils. When the patties are randomly dropped onto the side of the coil, a patty may occasionally contact the edge of the coil, causing the patty to be improperly positioned in the stack. Even coil stackers, however, require an operator to remove the products, and place them into the box. Improperly positioned product causes inconsistent forming of the stack of patties. This inconsistency makes it impossible to automate the transferring of the stacks of patties.
The common industry practice for loading patties into a case is to load them manually, after the food products are formed into continuous stacks by a coil type stacker. The operator will then pick up partial stacks of about 5-10 patties, and place them into the case. Robots have been used to place the patties into the box or carton, but robots are expensive and may have difficulty should product size change.
The disclosed invention achieves these needs and others by providing a lane combining conveyor, used in connection with a stack former, a stack transfer mechanism, a matrix former, and a case rollover mechanism. The disclosed invention automatically sorts the patties into a number of lanes corresponding to the number of stacks in the carton, assembles them into stacks of predetermined number of patties, and then causes the stacks to be positioned within a carton.
The invention operates essentially automatically, can be adjusted as to the number of stacks and the number of patties in a stack, and avoids the need for an operator to manually place the stacks into a carton.
A lane combining conveyor system for combining a plurality of lanes of products fed across the system comprises a first conveyor for advancing a plurality of lanes of product in a machine direction. A second elevating conveyor is disposed adjacent to the first conveyor for advancing at least one lane of product in the machine direction. A cross feed conveyor communicates with the second conveyor, and extends at an angle thereto for accumulating a predetermined supply of product. A controller is operably associated with the first and cross feed conveyors for limiting movement of the product in the machine direction along the first conveyor beyond a preselected location after a predetermined supply of product has accumulated on the cross feed conveyor. A pusher is operably associated with a cross feed conveyor for removing accumulated product therefrom in response to operation of the controller, and for thereafter permitting movement of the food product in the machine direction along the first conveyor.
A system for stacking product comprises a conveyor for advancing product from a first elevated location. A first set of dividers extends from the first elevated location to a second location. A plurality of sheets are pivotally secured to adjacent rows of the first set of dividers for directing the flow of product. Each sheet has an entry portion and exit portion. A plurality of rotatable stacking coils extend angularly outwardly between adjacent rows of the second dividers for receiving product between turns of the coils. A drive rotates the coils. A controller pivots each sheet in synchronization with the rotation of the associated coil, so that each exit portion remain aligned between turns of the associated coil, and thereby directs product between the turns.
A system for packaging a stack of disc-like product comprises a rotatable coil for advancing disc-like product beyond a first position. A transfer head is pivotable between a first product receiving orientation and a second product dispensing orientation. A plurality of jaws are carried by the transfer head. The jaws have a first closed position defining a receptacle for receiving product accumulated by the coil. At least one of the jaws is pivotal into a second open position, permitting the transfer head to be pivoted into the first orientation from the second orientation without encountering product accumulating on the coil.
A system for stacking disc-like objects comprises a matrix former comprising a three-sided open receptacle. A plurality of transfer heads are pivotal between a first product receiving orientation and a second product dispensing orientation disposed with the matrix former for placing stacks of objects therein in a row. A controller is operably associated with the matrix former, for moving the matrix former in a first direction as a first row is received in order to permit receipt therein of a second row and for moving the matrix former in an axial direction for permitting product to be removed from the transfer heads.
A system for packaging product comprises a matrix former comprising a three-sided open receptacle. The matrix former is pivotal about at an axis between a first upright position and a second inverted position. The matrix former receives stacks of product. A case rollover mechanism is operably associated with the matrix former. The case rollover mechanism rotates a receptacle about the first axis from a first open orientation to a second orientation positioned over the matrix former. Then the matrix former rotates the case rollover mechanism and the case to the first orientation, thereby inverting the matrix former and emptying product from the matrix former into the receptacle.
A loading system comprises a lane combining conveyor for reducing the number of lanes of product fed from a standard conveyor. A plurality of sheets are disposed at an outfeed of each lane. Each sheet has an entry portion and exit portion, and is pivotally mounted at its entry portion. A plurality of rotatable stacking coils extend angularly outwardly from between adjacent sheets to receive product between the turns of the coil and thereby form a stack. A controller pivots each sheet in synchronization with rotation of the associated coil, for thereby directing product between the turns. A transfer head is pivotal between a first product receiving orientation and a second product dispensing orientation for transferring a stack. A matrix former receives stacks from the transfer heads. A case rollover mechanism is operably associated with in the matrix former for receiving product from the matrix former.
A method of combining a plurality of lanes of product comprises the step of advancing a plurality of lanes of product along a conveyor in a first machine direction. At least one lane of product is reoriented in a cross machine direction. Movement of the product along the first conveyor is limited beyond a preselected location after a predetermined supply of product has accumulated in the cross machine direction, while products accumulated in the cross machine direction are simultaneously discharged into the first machine direct-on.
A method for packaging product comprises the steps of raising a matrix former into position to receive stacks of product from a stack transfer mechanism. The stack transfer mechanism is rotated into the matrix former. A stack stripper is engaged, and stacks are positioned thereby within the matrix former. The matrix former is lowered, thereby causing the stacks to be stripped from the stack transfer heads.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent in view of the following description and drawings of the above-described invention.